2 tourists drown as chunk of Greenland glacier breaks off

COPENHAGEN – Two Danish tourists photographing a glacier in Greenland were killed on the weekend when chunks of ice fell into the water, creating a giant wave that drowned them, Greenlandic radio KNR

COPENHAGEN – Two Danish tourists photographing a glacier in Greenland were killed on the weekend when chunks of ice fell into the water, creating a giant wave that drowned them, Greenlandic radio KNR said on Tuesday.

The two men, aged 70 and 73, were part of group of 12 Danish tourists visiting Uummannaq, on the western coast of Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.

The group had been dropped off on the tip of the glacier to take pictures Sunday afternoon.

“All of a sudden, we heard something that sounded like thunder and the part of the glacier where the people were standing was covered in pieces of ice, water and mud,” Anders Pedersen, the captain of the ship that had dropped the tourists at the site, told KNR.

Five people, including a guide, were swept away into the glacial waters. Three of them were rescued by the crew of the ship, and the two others were later found dead.

“We have been doing excursions like this for 20 years and we’ve never had a tragedy like this before,” Pedersen said.

canada.com

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Linda Hohnholz

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